Last April, the League of Conservation Voters awarded
Colorado Rep. Wayne Allard a score of zero for his environmental
votes during his first 100 days in office. Now, Allard’s rating
might dip into the negative numbers.
A provision
of Allard’s in the 1995 Farm Bill would prohibit the Forest Service
from changing management plans to maintain viable populations of
wildlife. Allard inserted the change at the request of Rep. John
Doolittle, R-Calif., who said he was tired of seeing logging
stalled by the needs of spotted owls. The Wilderness Society’s Mike
Anderson says the amendment would make it illegal for the Forest
Service to protect many animals – from goshawks in the Southwest to
Alaskan wolves.
“This disembowels the Forest
Service mission on every forest in the United States,” says Ted
Zukowski of the nonprofit Land and Water
Fund.
Another of Allard’s provisions would
prohibit federal land-management agencies from setting more
stringent environmental standards for water management than a state
itself requires. This could free dams on federal lands from having
to release water for wildlife. “This may be the most flagrant
example yet of Congress’ efforts to hand over control of our public
lands to private interests while no one is looking,” says Richard
Domingue of Colorado Trout
Unlimited.
Environmentalists say they were
shocked to find these provisions tucked into the Farm Bill, and
some federal agents hadn’t even heard the news. “Oh my God,” said
Deputy Press Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Jim
Peterson. “Allard does so many horrible things; it’s hard to keep
up.”
* Heather
Abel
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Allard takes aim.
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